I’m often asked: “Should I bother creating a page for my business on Facebook?”

Well it’s going to take a “Whole lotta time” or “Some” spending money to get it right.

Here’s what you should ask yourself before spending either.

l Are you willing to share your knowledge openly without an expectation of an instant payday?

l Do you have a passion for what you do? This may seem like a strange question, but the amount of people who are only interested in making money and don’t actually have a connection to the brand or product they are selling is very common.

People pick a market they think has lots of potential, weight loss or golf for example, but don’t really like either. Rarely does this work out.

The audience either figures it out or it just stops being fun, so the activity dies down and it’s on to the next thing.

l Are you willing to spend some money to promote yourself and your company across the various social media platforms?

l Are you willing to build up a mailing list and spend some time serving that audience?

l Will you be able to write something each day or at least publish regularly?

If the answer isn’t yes to all of these, or have someone to do these for you, then you probably shouldn’t spend any time or energy on creating a Facebook page.

A sparse, never updated page could be worse than not having one at all.

Sometimes it is a lack of confidence, either technically or knowing how to position your brand in a way that’s different.

Often referred to as a Unique Selling Point (USP), in reality most businesses don’t really have one. This goes beyond a gimmick or slogan and needs to get to the core of why people should choose your business.

Don’t forget you are not just trying to be a better option than your competition, but also better than the customer choosing to do nothing.

One of the most knowledgeable people in the world at small business branding is Dan Kennedy. Sadly he’s out of most businesses price range these days charging £100,000+ for consultations.

We have managed to secure a free hardback book and CD on local business marketing from Dan for every reader. You just need to pay P&P.